Hitler knew how to "get things done." He just got a little carried away.

[breadandwine]

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1098728.html

[YOY]

1. Did he ever...that wacky cat!

You just never knew what kind of craaaaaazy hijinx that son of a gun would get into!

[unpossibles]

2. holy crap. nt

[breadandwine]

3. England is getting very anti-Semitic.

...

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

4. Ah, yes. The much revered "man of action".

John Steinbeck once wrote an essay in praise of laziness. A sentiment that I both indulge and agree with.

[groovedaddy]

5. Back when they desegrated the schools where I lived and the KKK was very active,

a few of the Kluxers where I worked were spouting off such shit - hitler wasn't such a bad guy.
Very interesting reactions - the WWII vets who had been in Europe gave these guys the "what for" telling them to STFU!
I also worked with a holocaust survivor from Poland - still had the number on his wrist. He was the only survivor from his family. One Kluxer started his hitler talk. The Polish guy was very small, probably half the size of the kluxer. He went across the table and grabbed the kluxer by the throat with both hands. It took 4 or 5 guys to pull him off. Personally, I wouldn't have minded him finishing the job!

[breadandwine]

7. Yeah. But the English are not Klan. What's with the English?

I've seen a lot of reports of English anti-Semitism lately.

[Gwendolyn]

8. That's pretty obvious isn't it, even without doing a cursory google check?

"The London-based Community Security Trust, which monitors anti-Semitism and works to safeguard the Jewish community in Britain, said 250 anti-Semitic incidents were recorded in the four weeks after Dec. 27, when Israel launched attacks on Gaza to stop Hamas rocket attacks.

That compares to 40 incidents from the same period the year before. Dave Rich, a spokesman for the trust, said Jews in Britain are unfairly seen as local representatives of Israel - a view that fuels some of the anti-Semitic attacks."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1063996.html

(Don't like quoting haaretz, but what the hay, same info is available all over.)

[Occam Bandage]

9. Ah, yes. That's why there's anti-Semitism. It's the Jews' fault. nt

[Gwendolyn]

12. I hope your post doesn't imply that I'm okay with, or condoning it?

Cause my feeling veer in the totally opposite direction. But yes, it appears that (as it has throughout history with other groups) people elsewhere must be scapegoated for the actions of a country they have no control over whatsoever.

[breadandwine]

15. Well, there is not now a war so what is making the Brit freak out?

...

[Occam Bandage]

17. Condoning? Wouldn't go that far, but it certainly implies a Semitic root cause of anti-Semitism.

And by "implies" I actually mean "declares."

[Gwendolyn]

19. You misunderstood my post then, completely.

[Occam Bandage]

21. Show me the step at which I am mistaken.

breadandwine asked why the English were apparently becoming more anti-Semitic. Your reply stated that an Israeli offensive into Gaza led to increased anti-Semitic activity in England. Though you did say it was "unfair" that Jews in England ought be made to answer for the crimes of Jews in Israel, it is absolutely inescapable that the Israeli incursion was presented in your post as the root cause of the anti-Semitic upswing you referenced.

Your post's answer to the question of increased anti-Semitism in England is (paraphrasing) "Israel does bad things, and while it's sad and unfair, English Jews are harmed as a result." Regardless of sadness or fairness, though, the root cause you provided for increased anti-Semitism is the actions taken by Israel. Israel's actions are the root cause that you have provided.

While you may not have intended such, I cannot see how it is not the case that your answer to the question of "why do more Britons hate British Jews?" is "because of things other Jews did."

[Gwendolyn]

23. Here, I'll try it again.

Around the time that whole Gaza thing unfolded, it was all over the news that incidents of anti-semitism were on the rise, basically all over Europe. In the UK, people were on the street shouting things like "Hitler didn't finish the job," and other disgusting slogans. It happened only six months ago, and I'm not old enough for Alzheimer's yet, so I remembered that, and pulled up some info...

It has happened before elsewhere, to other groups. Like the imprisonment of the Japanese in the US during WWII for instance. People are blamed for the actions of others simply because of some tenuous connection, ethnic, religious, or otherwise. I didn't really think that I needed to add the addendum that people do this because they are stupid and bigoted and hateful. This is fairly obvious.

Edited to add: You're also projecting when you say that I implied or stated that Israel's actions were "bad." I never passed judgment at all.

[Swede]

14. Stunning,isn' it?

:shrug:

[Ganja Ninja]

6. Just a little?

:shrug:

[Occam Bandage]

10. He made the Death Trains run on time. nt

[AllentownJake]

11. It can easily happen here, or England, or any other country

Times get desperate enough people turn to crazy people.

[edbermac]

13. And he was such a good dancer too.

:sarcasm:

[Sebastian Doyle]

16. Hitler was a gifted speaker and a persuasive politician.

He used those talents for good when he built the Autobahn and got Volkswagen up and running. Had he continued to use his abilities for good, he would be remembered today as a great leader, rather than the genocidal madman he became by choosing a much darker path.

Could have been Germany's FDR. Instead he became a mass murderer.

[Occam Bandage]

18. His power of persuasion was rooted in darkness.

He made himself a focal point through which audiences channeled their anger, fear, and resentment--and did so from the very beginning.

I'm having a hard time believing that you're not being facetious, actually. In claiming he ought have "continued to use his abilities for good" and not chosen "a much darker path" than the one he started on, you're displaying a mildly alarming ignorance of the course of Hitler's rise to power. The Volkswagen entered production in 1934. By that time Hitler had:

1. Attempted, with the SA, to overthrow the government of Munich as the proposed beginning of a military campaign culminating in a marh on Berlin.

2. Delivered an angry speech at his trial in which he claimed Germany was surrounded by enemies that wished to destroy her, and only through unleashed military power could Germany avoid complete destruction.

3. Served in prison, during which time he wrote Mein Kampf, which ought need no explanation.

4. Retook control of the Nazi party, and launched a series of paramilitary battles to eradicate all other revolutionary parties/militias.

5. Took office, suspended the Constitution indefinitely, transferred all legislative and judicial powers to himself, and banned all political parties and trade unions outside the Nazi party.

6. Murdered the SA leadership along with most other political rivals.

7. Declared his foreign policy plan was "ruthless Germanisation" of the East.

8. Excluded Jews from civil service, medicine, law, and universities.

9. Pulled out of the League of Nations and scrapped its arms-limitations treaties.

And just about here, the first Volkswagen rolls off the line, just as Hitler is building munitions factories, planning for a greatly enlarged air force and Navy, and writing the Nuremberg laws. I'm thinking the path he was on at that point was plenty dark, and not really that comparable to FDR, except in that both had their governments spend money on things.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

20. The Autobahn was a Weimar project.

Hitler wasn't a gifted speaker, he just tapped into widespread bigotry. He was just a crazy hick who a lot of fucks got behind. Sarah Palin, Joe the Plumber, Dubya.

[Sebastian Doyle]

22. Don't forget Grandpa Bush

The stupid fuck who bankrolled his adventures in the first place.